5 ways climate change is a women’s rights issue

July 19, 2017

Women during the Myanmar floods. Photo: Myo Thame/UNICEF

Climate change is not gender neutral. If you’re a woman, you’re more likely to feel the negative consequences of natural disasters and, left unchecked, climate change only stands to make gender inequalities worse.

1. Collecting drinking water becomes harder, and violence becomes more common

A women receives a dignity kit and a health check-up in Ayeyawady Region of Myanmar. Photo: Benny Manser/UNFPA

3. Women farmers lose their income

In some places, women do up to 80% of the farming work, with agriculture often being one of the few income sources available to women. This means that in the event of natural disasters, women face not only water shortages and loss of land to farm, but a loss of the income they rely on to survive.

Women walk among the destroyed homes in the wake of Cyclone Winston in Fiji. Photo: Lyndon Mechielsen/The Australian

5. It’s even harder for single or LGBTQI women to access emergency services

If women are already discriminated against in their communities, access to emergency services during natural disasters can be incredibly difficult. During the recent Cyclone Winston in Fiji, women of diverse sexual identities were choosing to stay in homes that were hazardous and remote – because they felt the evacuation centres were unsafe and unwelcoming for them. Those with healthcare issues were unable to reach doctors, and for poor households food, water and housing security immediately dropped.

The devastation left by Cyclone Winston. Photo: FWRM

If you’re interested in finding out more about how climate change and natural disasters affect women, here are a couple of places to explore: